Dan Oliver's fledgling interest in veterinary science began just around the time he could walk.

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By Colleen Seidel/The Record Herald

Waynesboro Record Herald - Waynesboro, PA

By Colleen Seidel/The Record Herald

Posted Dec. 28, 2012 at 12:15 PM

By Colleen Seidel/The Record Herald

Posted Dec. 28, 2012 at 12:15 PM

GREENCASTLE — Dan Oliver's fledgling interest in veterinary science began just around the time he could walk.

"I would ride along with dad when I was real young and go to the farms," the 26-year-old Greencastle resident said.

"And I'd hear stories ... things like 'you don't remember this because you were too young,'... 'there was that time he had to stick you in the hay...'"

"He was a combination of interested and adventuresome," Oliver's father chuckled about these father-son veterinary outings.

"He would watch me for a few minutes, then run off and chase the chickens."

Father and son

Oliver's father is Dr. Alan Oliver, a veterinarian with Greencastle Veterinary Hospital who has been practicing large animal veterinary medicine for more than 30 years.

Oliver, a 2004 Greencastle-Antrim High School graduate, recently achieved a lifelong goal — and fulfilled a community's longheld expectation — by taking a place beside his father in the same veterinary practice as a mixed-animal vet.

Alan Oliver received his veterinary medicine degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1979. Dan Oliver received his from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 2011.

Despite the expectations of growing up with a prominent last name in a small town, Oliver said he never felt pressure from his parents to follow in his father's footsteps — unless he really wanted to.

"I thought about other careers, but it always came back to this," he said. "With my skills, it was a natural fit for what I could do."

Vet school for the 2004 G-AHS Valedictorian and 2007 early graduate of Penn State University was a challenge, but Oliver never had doubts about his chosen career path.

"I had to work a lot harder (in vet school) than I had to in undergrad and before, but I never really had any hesitations," he said.

'A social job'

"It's as much a social job as it is anything else," Oliver said about his work with Greencastle Veterinary Hospital, where he's been employed for a year and a half.

The vet typically spends his mornings visiting area farmers and taking care of their dairy herds, doing everything from pregnancy checks to vaccinations to consulting with the farmers about diets, medicine and what to do next for sick cows.

"It's not just showing up at farms to do pregnancy checks and leaving," Oliver said. "It's about gathering information, chatting with the farmers, helping them to be better."

The farmers, in return, welcome Dan when he comes onto the farm. Many of the farmers Oliver sees on a regular basis have been clients of the hospital and his father for decades.

"It's hard to believe," said Sherrie Mellott, a dairy farmer who owns a farm in Peters Township with her husband Jim.

Page 2 of 2 - Oliver visited the Mellott farm last week to perform pregnancy checks on the herd. The Mellots have known him since he was a kid participating in the 4-H Dairy Club with their own children.

"His dad is good. I think, Danny, he's gonna be good," she said.

"The cool thing is, you get to see these kids grow up, see them in a rewarding job."

Jim Mellott, who grew up with Alan Oliver, said the familial ties help to strengthen the relationship between the veterinarians and the farmers.

"The biggest thing is, we (build) trust," he said.

Gaining experience

"I still suspect I would have ended up being a vet, even if not in Greencastle," Oliver said.

But it's clear that working on animals and with people where this young doctor grew up is part of what makes his work that much more meaningful for him.

"Definitely the area, the farmers, the clients that I met growing up ... I enjoy talking to them," he said. "I wanted to get into a profession where I could help them."

"The amazing thing about farms in Franklin County ... all those cows have names," he said. "It's not like a factory, which some people make it out to be."

As far as the pressure to fill his father's shoes, Oliver isn't too concerned.

"I do hear that a fair bit, not from him but from some (others)," he said. "And I agree with them that he's a good vet. He's a good people person."

Oliver does enjoy the few chances he gets to work with his father under the same roof, considering it an opportunity for mentorship.

"I know I'm not as good as him right now," Oliver said, maintaining his perspective. "The only substitute for 30 years of experience is 30 years of experience."